Ionized air blower

ABSTRACT

An ionized air blower is disclosed for simultaneously neutralizing static charge and dislodging particulate matter, such as dust, from a surface to be cleaned. The ionized air blower comprises a compressible air chamber, such as a resilient bulb, and an ionizer. The ionizer ionizes air molecules expelled from the chamber to provide a stream of ionized air.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention is directed to static eliminators and moreparticularly to an ionized air blower for neutralizing and removingstatically charged particles from a surface to be cleaned.

BACKGROUND

Static is the accumulation of electrical charges on the surface of anon-conductive material. Static can be produced when two differentnon-conducting materials are rubbed together. It is well known thatstatic charge may cause unwanted dust particles to be attracted and heldto a surface such as a camera lens or a digital imaging sensor.

Attempts to merely blow dust off of a statically charged surface is atemporary solution at best. Because the static charge remains,additional dust particles will be attracted and held to the surface.Moreover, attempts to wipe or brush dust from a statically chargedsurface may aggravate the problem by increasing the static charge on thesurface.

Numerous methods and devices have been developed to reduce or eliminatestatic charge. One such method uses ionized air to neutralize staticcharge on a surface or the dust particles attracted to the surface.Devices for producing ionized air are well known and include highvoltage electronic devices that use a corona discharge and radioactivedevices that emit alpha particles. It is also known to use these devicesin combination with electric fans or compressed air sources to directthe ionized air at the surface to be cleaned. Several examples of knownionizers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,731,030, 3,156,847,3,179,849, 4,258,408, 4,333,123, 4,438,479, 4,665,462, 5,095,400,5,388,769, 5,508,880, 6,118,645, 6,373,680, 6,739,530 and 6,850,403 andU.S. Pat. Publication No. 2004/0118428.

Known ionizers that use “shop air” from a feed line attached to a pumpor compressed air tank suffer from lack of mobility. Ionizers thatutilize an electric fan or pump are often heavy or bulky and requireaccess to a power source or batteries. Likewise, ionizers that usecanned compressed air, although mobile, are expensive due to the cost ofreplacement air cans.

Therefore, a new ionized air blower is desired that is lightweight,mobile and does not require a separate air source.

SUMMARY

According to a first aspect an ionized air blower is provided comprisinga compressible air chamber and an ionizer. When the chamber iscompressed, a stream of air is produced through an exhaust opening inthe chamber. The ionizer, which may be any conventional ionizer known inthe art, ionizes air molecules passing through the exhaust opening toprovide a stream of ionized air.

According to a second aspect an ionized air blower is providedcomprising a hand-compressible resilient bulb for producing a stream ofair when compressed and an ionizer for ionizing air molecules passingthrough an exhaust opening in the bulb.

According to a third aspect an ionized air blower is provided comprisinga hand-compressible resilient bulb for producing a stream of air whenthe bulb is compressed and a tubular nuclear ionizer for ionizing airmolecules that pass out of the bulb and through the ionizer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an ionized air blower according to oneembodiment;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the ionized air blower of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of an ionized air blower according to a secondembodiment;

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-section view of an ionized air blowerdepicting a bulb according to one embodiment for use with the ionizedair blowers of FIGS. 2 or 3;

FIG. 5 is a partial cross-section view of an ionized air blowerdepicting a bulb according to a second embodiment for use with theionized air blowers of FIGS. 2 or 3;

FIG. 6 is a schematic circuit diagram of a typical electric coronadischarge ionizer suitable for use in the ionized air blower of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An ionized air blower 10 is disclosed for removing dust and neutralizingstatic charge on a surface to be cleaned. The ionized air blower 10comprises a compressible air chamber 12 and an energy source or ionizerfor ionizing air molecules. When compressed or squeezed, the chamber 12produces a stream of air with moderate velocity at essentially ambientpressure. The air stream passes through, over or across the ionizer topick up ionized air molecules. A nozzle 14 may be provided for directingthe ionized air at a surface to be cleaned.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the energy source may be a nuclear ionizer16, the basic features of which are known in the art. Examples of knownnuclear ionizers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,438,479 and6,739,530, which are incorporated herein by reference. Typically, theenergy source in a nuclear ionizer comprises an alpha particle emittingmetal foil, such as polonium. Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, the foilmay be positioned within an air path 17 through the ionizer or along awall of the air path 17.

Alternatively, referring to FIG. 3, the energy source may be a highvoltage electric ionizer 18, the basic structure of which is known inthe art. Examples of known electric ionizers are disclosed in U.S. Pat.Nos. 3,156,847, 3,179,849, 4,333,123 and 5,388,769, which areincorporated herein by reference. Referring to FIG. 6, the basic blockdiagram of a typical electric ionizer comprises a battery 20, a switch22, a high voltage power supply 24 and one or more corona dischargepoints 26. The corona discharge point 26 may be positioned such that thestream of air produced by compression of the chamber 12 passes acrossthe point 26.

Referring to FIGS. 1-5, the chamber 12 may comprise a hand-compressibleresilient bulb. The bulb provides the advantage of being a light-weight,compact, self-contained and therefore easily transportable source of airfor the ionized air blower. Unlike conventional anti-static guns, theionized air blowers of FIGS. 1-5 do not need to be connected to anexternal air source such as shop air or a compressed air can.Alternatively, the chamber 12 may comprise bellows or other hand pumpdevices.

Referring to FIG. 4, the compressible chamber 12 may comprise a sidewall 30 and an exhaust opening 32. The side wall 30 may be made ofsynthetic rubber or similar material that will allow a user to compressthe chamber 12 by hand but which will also return to its original shapewhen released. The exhaust opening 32 may be coupled to the ionizer suchthat the exhaust opening 32 is in fluid communication with an air path17 through the ionizer. In this configuration, compression or squeezingof the chamber 12 will cause a stream of air to pass through the exhaustopening 32 and the ionizer. The ionizer may be tubular and may comprisea nozzle 14 at its exit for directing ionized air.

In another embodiment, depicted in FIG. 5, the chamber 12 may include avalve arrangement to provide a desired air flow path through theionizer. Still referring to FIG. 5, the chamber side wall 30 includes anentrance opening 36 opposite the exhaust opening 32 that includes aone-way air valve 38. The valve 38, which may be any typical one-way airvalve, is oriented to permit air flow into, but not out of, the chamber12. The exhaust opening 32 similarly includes a one-way air valve 40,which is oriented to permit air flow out of, but not into, the chamber12. In this configuration, when the chamber is compressed, the valve 38closes and the valve 40 in the exhaust opening opens to permit air to bepushed out of the chamber 12. When the chamber 12 is released andpermitted to return to its original shape, valve 40 closes and valve 38in the entrance opening 36 opens to permit air to refill the chamber 12.Thus, one-way flow through the chamber is achieved.

The ionized air blowers disclosed herein are designed to simultaneouslyneutralize static charge and dislodge particulate matter, such as dust,from a surface to be cleaned. Because the described ionized air blowersdo not require a separate source of air, they are portable, reusable andless expensive over time than typical anti-static guns. They furtherprovide the advantage of being lightweight, compact, and self-contained.

1. An ionized air blower comprising: a compressible air chamber forproducing a stream of air through an exhaust opening of the chamber whenthe chamber is compressed; and an ionizer for ionizing air moleculespassing through the exhaust opening.
 2. The ionized air blower of claim1 wherein the compressible air chamber comprises a resilient bulb. 3.The ionized air blower of claim 1 wherein the compressible air chamberis sized to fit within a user's hand.
 4. The ionized air blower of claim3 wherein the ionizer comprises a nuclear ionizer.
 5. The ionized airblower of claim 3 wherein the ionizer comprises an electrical coronadischarge ionizer.
 6. The ionized air blower of claim 3 wherein theionizer comprises a tubular nozzle in fluid communication with theexhaust opening.
 7. The ionized air blower of claim 1 wherein thecompressible air chamber further comprises an entrance openingcomprising a one-way air valve that permits air to enter butsubstantially prevents air from exiting the chamber through the entranceopening.
 8. The ionized air blower of claim 7 wherein the exhaustopening further comprises a one-way air valve that permits air to exitbut substantially prevents air from entering the chamber through theexhaust opening.
 9. An ionized air blower comprising: ahand-compressible resilient bulb for producing a stream of air throughan exhaust opening of the bulb when the bulb is compressed; and anionizer for ionizing air molecules passing through the exhaust opening.10. The ionized air blower of claim 9 wherein the ionizer comprises analpha particle emitting nuclear ionizer.
 11. The ionized air blower ofclaim 9 wherein the ionizer comprises an electrical corona dischargeionizer.
 12. The ionized air blower of claim 9 further comprising atubular nozzle for directing the stream of air passing through theexhaust opening.
 13. The ionized air blower of claim 9 wherein thecompressible bulb further comprises an entrance opening comprising aone-way air valve that permits air to enter but substantially preventsair from exiting the bulb through the entrance opening.
 14. The ionizedair blower of claim 13 wherein the exhaust opening further comprises aone-way air valve that permits air to exit but substantially preventsair from entering the bulb through the exhaust opening.
 15. An ionizedair blower comprising: a hand-compressible resilient bulb for producinga stream of air through an exhaust opening of the bulb when the bulb iscompressed; and a tubular nuclear ionizer comprising an air path influid communication with the exhaust opening.
 16. The ionized air blowerof claim 15 wherein the bulb further comprises first and second one-wayair valves, the first air valve oriented to substantially prevent airfrom exiting the bulb, and the second air valve oriented at the exhaustopening to permit air to exit the bulb when the bulb is compressed.